Colorado Springs – The U.S. Olympic Committee may consider moving its headquarters out of Colorado Springs unless the city helps improve dormitories for athletes and finds adequate office space for administrators.

Colorado Springs is expected in the “short term” to present a proposal to the USOC, said Colorado Springs Mayor Lionel Rivera. The proposal will culminate about five months of closed-door discussions between the city and the USOC.

“We’re going to try to help them meet their needs,” Rivera said. “We, of course, are very interested in maintaining and improving what has been almost a 30-year partnership with them.”

The USOC’s campus is on 34 acres in central Colorado Springs on what was built as Ent Air Force Base. It is home to USOC’s administration and the Olympic Training Center. The USOC’s offices are 1950s-style and scattered throughout the complex. The dorms are barracks built just after World War II.

“We are evaluating several different proposals regarding a possible headquarters for the USOC,” spokesman Darryl Seibel told the Colorado Springs Gazette. “I’m not at liberty to share with you from which communities. I can confirm for you that one of these proposals is from Colorado Springs. …”

Rivera said he doesn’t think the USOC has any plans to move the training center.

While rumors circulated in Colorado Springs that Denver had attempted to lure the USOC, Mayor John Hickenlooper said Denver would not compete against Colorado Springs.

“We would not go down and, upon hearing that there was some issue, try and lure away an institution like that that is part of the brand of Colorado Springs,” Hickenlooper said. “Personally I think it belongs there and does a great job there. And I would be very, very sad to hear it leaving.”

The USOC and at least 40 other sports organizations in Colorado Springs create an industry that pumps at least $316 million annually into the economy and generates 4,800 jobs, said David Bamberger, a Colorado Springs economist.

“The city of Colorado Springs’ sports image nationally and internationally is defined by the Olympic presence,” said Mike Moran, who worked for the USOC for 25 years and is now spokesman for Colorado Springs Sports Corp.

Colorado Springs Councilwoman Margaret Radford said the city is considering a “whole array” of potential offers and incentives.

“Our belief is, we are uniquely positioned to know what they need and to get it for them, and that’s what we’re trying to focus on.

“What our city has to be careful of and mindful of is putting together the right mix of tools in a proposal that is both attractive to the USOC and compliant with the wishes of our community,” Radford said.

Stephanie Valencia, spokesman for U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar, said, “The senator is concerned because the USOC is a huge economic driver for Colorado Springs. He will reach out to local officials to see what he can do in his capacity to make sure this doesn’t happen.”

In 2003, an effort was made to move the USOC to New York City, but then-Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell blocked the relocation.

The Larimer County coroner on Sunday performed an autopsy on the body found on a farm just east of Loveland Saturday, but the office will not release the cause of death or the identity of the person until they can track down next of kin.